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The White House appeared poised on Wednesday to deploy dozens of law enforcement personnel to the northern California for a large-scale border security initiative, triggering criticism from California leaders.

Specifics of the Deployment

Details of the operation were still emerging, but it will allegedly feature approximately 100+ federal agents, based on information. The agents are scheduled to begin utilizing the military installation in Alameda, across the bay from San Francisco. It remained unclear whether military personnel would participate.

Government Response

The operation comes after weeks of warnings by Donald Trump to take action against the Democratic-run city. California’s governor Gavin Newsom denounced the decision, calling it “taken directly from the authoritarian playbook”.

“He dispatches masked men, he deploys Border Patrol, he dispatches federal agents, he creates worry and terror in the population so that he can claim credit for addressing that by deploying the national guard,” the governor stated. “This is exactly like the firestarter putting out the inferno.”

Local Planning

San Francisco is the newest large urban area focused on by the administration's initiative of mass immigration arrests. The operation is anticipated to provoke a standoff between the White House and municipal authorities who have vowed to block paramilitary operations in the city.

San Franciscans have been readying for weeks for Trump to make good on frequent statements to send troops to the city. At a Wednesday public announcement, San Francisco’s municipal chief reiterated that the city was ready.

“For months, we have been preparing for the chance of some kind of national intervention in our city,” declared the leader, noting that he had enacted new policies on Wednesday to “bolster the city’s protection of our newcomer populations, and make certain our agencies are coordinated prior to any national intervention.”

Legal Background

Despite judicial disputes to deployments in a several municipalities, including Illinois, the Pacific Northwest and Southern California, Trump has declared “absolute authority” to deploy the military forces in cities, referencing the presidential authority which permits presidents specific authority to dispatch personnel on domestic land.

Public Reaction

Newsom, who previously served as San Francisco’s mayor – had committed to step in “without delay” to a operation in the city. “The notion that the national administration can send forces into our cities with no legitimate cause based on facts, no oversight, no answerability, disregard for state sovereignty – it constitutes an attack on the judicial framework,” he said on Wednesday.

Local organizations, including advocacy organizations formed in the previous presidential term, have organized to quickly mobilize a large protest in the city, as well as vigils at community centers.

Local Impact

In San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood, a mostly Latin American population, local representative stated to media last week she and her residents had been anticipating this moment. “The time that employees avoid workplaces, when minority individuals can’t freely walk outside without the fear of national personnel racially profiling and apprehending them, the point when parents stop sending kids to school, grow too frightened to go to the food market or doctor,” she said. “Our ongoing preparations in the Mission is essentially a halt the scale of which we have not experienced since the health crisis.”

Military Condition

Roughly 300 out of 4,000 California national guard troops remain federalized under an command from Trump. Approximately 200 of them had been dispatched to Oregon, where they were staying in standby in the midst of a judicial dispute over their assignment.

This week, Newsom said he had summoned the state military personnel under his authority to operate food banks throughout the federal closure.